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Recently I've been thinking a lot about the early days of my prayer life back in the 1970s when I first began to sense God calling me to pray. I'll never forget those amazing times.

As the Holy Spirit moved on me, I would find myself praying about things that normally I'd never pray for. I'd pray about things like the alignment of nations and God's plan for the last days. I'd pray about the Church and her glorious role in it all.

During those days, the Lord taught me truths that set the course for my prayer life. Lately, those truths have been burning in me in a fresh way. I sense an urgency of the Spirit, a need to share with people like you about the course of prayer God mapped out for me all those years ago because we are nearing the end of that course. And for us to finish it in victory, we must finish it together.

Prayer For The Nations
Even though it's been almost thirty years now, I still remember the words the Lord used as He began to teach me about praying for the nations. He would say to me, "Now, Lynne, at the very end, Satan is going to try to make the United States of America a goat nation instead of a sheep nation."

Those were very strange words to me at the time. After all, I was just a young Christian. I'd only been saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit a year or two. I didn't know anything about sheep nations and goat nations. I didn't even know what God meant when He talked about "the end."

I would think, "The end? The end of what? The end of the year?"

But little by little, He would teach me. He showed me the judgment of the nations in Matthew 25 and He taught me that, according to the blessing of Abraham in Genesis 12:3, all the nations that have blessed the nation of Israel will be blessed in the day of God's judgment and all the nations that have cursed Israel will be cursed.

Then He said to me, "Satan doesn't care how long the United States has served God. He doesn't care how long they've helped Israel. If he can get the U.S. to turn against Israel in the last few moments of this age, he can steal their reward. He can rob them of their status as a sheep nation and set them up to be cursed."

When He first told me that, I struggled with it. I thought, "Oh, surely that can't be!" But then I thought about how the spiritual always parallels the natural. I realized that in a natural race, a person might be the very fastest runner of all. He might be in the lead the whole time. But if he falls at the end of the race and fails to cross the finish line, his race won't even count. He won't get any reward.

The Lord also reminded me of the parable in Matthew 20 about the hired servants. I noticed at the end of that parable all the workers got the same reward even though some began early in the day and others began late. It dawned on me that what determined their reward was not how long they worked but the fact that they finished.

As I learned those things, I developed a burning desire to see my nation finish her course as a "sheep" nation. I also realized that I had a great responsibility to see to it that she did!

I'm telling you, if you're a Christian, you need to have that same burning desire and sense of responsibility for your nation. You may say, "But Lynne, I don't live in the United States. I live in a nation that is totally ungodly and has never blessed Israel a day in its life."

All Things Are Possible
Don't you worry about that. With God, all things are possible. If you'll yield over to the Spirit of God and begin to pray for your nation, you can turn it into one of those eleventh-hour finishers. You can help bring it in on the side of blessing in the day of judgment.

God says you can! In 2 Chronicles 7:14 He says, "If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land."

Notice, that doesn't say God will heal our land just because we go to church on Sunday. It doesn't say He'll heal our land just because we say, "Praise the Lord" and listen to Christian radio on our way to work. He says He'll do it if we'll pray!

"But I'm just one person," you say, "What difference can one person's prayers make?"

Read the book of Daniel and see for yourself. Daniel was just one man but he set himself to pray about Israel's release from captivity in Babylon—and his prayers turned the heart of a wicked king and caused him to send the Israelites back to Jerusalem. One man's prayers affected the destiny of a nation.

Praying is the key. Not writing editorials and marching in picket lines and paying lobbyists to promote the Christian cause.

Praying!
That's why 1 Timothy 2 says,
First of all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in positions of authority or high responsibility…For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Savior, who wishes all men to be saved.
(vv. 1-4)
You might be thinking, "Well, I know all this. I read about prayer all the time. I believe in prayer." I do too. But believing in prayer and reading about prayer won't get the job done. Neither will teaching about prayer. I know that because years ago after I'd taught about praying for our nations, I was walking away from the platform with my books tucked under my arm and I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say, "But Lynne…when are you going to do it!"

Precious friend, I hear Him asking all of us that same question again with great urgency. I hear Him saying, "You've read about prayer. You've talked about prayer. You've believed in the power of prayer. When are you going to do it?"

"Now!" is the only satisfactory answer we can give.

We are in the final hour of this day, the last moments of this race. Just look around you and see what's happening in the world today, especially concerning Israel. The finish line is just ahead. We must not let our nations fall. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit we will give ourselves to prayer and we will do it now.

Destinies depend on it.

Excerpted from the newsletter Prayer Notes by Lynne Hammond
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Author Biography

Lynne Hammond
Web site: Lynne Hammond Ministries
 
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”
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